Meet the Judges

The nominations for the 2017 Leo Literary Awards are now closed!

The next couple of months, the judges shall review all of the nominated works to see which are worthy of the Leo Literary Award. Since there are five judges, for any work to win at least two-thirds votes, at least four judges must vote "Yes" on a work for it to win an award. Judges are not allowed to vote on works in which they had a direct hand in its publication (as a writer, editor, or publisher). However, an editor for a house may judge a work at that same house, provided they were not its editor. Likewise, if the judge wrote a story in a collection, they cannot judge the collection themselves, but they can judge another story in the collection.

Each of the judges provided a bio so you can "meet" them! Check them out below.

Madison Scott-Clary, or Makyo, is a furry, writer, editor, and publisher living in the Pacific Northwest. In 2011, she founded [adjective][species], a metafurry resource, as writer and editor-in-chief. Shortly thereafter, the project took ownership of the Furry Survey, the fandom's largest yearly market and demographic survey. Beginning in 2016, she edited Arcana - A Tarot Anthology for Thurston Howl Publications. In 2017, she joined forces with Thurston Howl Publications as an editor. She also assumed the role of president of the Furry Writers' Guild. Madison helped found Hybrid Ink, LLC, an independent publisher based out of the Pacific northwest, focused on thoughtful writing, fiction and nonfiction, from prose to verse. Madison has had essays published by Thurston Howl Publications in Furries Among Us 2 and on The New Stack, a tech news site. Her works have also appeared in the Further Confusion conbook in 2015, Civilized Beasts II, Arcana - A Tarot Anthology, Knotted: A BDSM Anthology, vol. 2, and Hot Dish 3.

Dominique Goodall is an author mainly dedicated to the love she has for wolves, with her books available for reading on Amazon. A firm believer in challenging herself, she's a seven-year NaNoWriMo winner, having completed her 50,000 words in only 48 hours in 2017. An editor and proofreader over at Priceless Proofreading UK, she loves nothing more than to write her books in varied genres, and to curl up with a good book.

Kirisis "KC" Alpinus is an author whose works have appeared in the Coyotl Award-winning Inhuman Acts, the Leo-nominated Bleak Horizons, Dogs of War: Aftermath, and the upcoming Infurno. As of February 2017, she is the lead editor of the first lesbian, furry anthology CLAW, as well as the lead editor for the upcoming Species: Wild Cats and Breeds: Wild Cats, while also being a slush pile reader for Bleak Horizons and an upcoming horror anthology. Her reading interests include fantasy, horror, romance, historical fiction, mythology, and a few more odds and ends.

Sam Dutton is a writer and nature lover who lives on the edge of Dartmoor National Park in the South West of England. An avid reader of fiction and poetry, she has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in English Literature. Her writing credits to date include ‘Wolf: A Short Story.’ in ‘Wolf Warriors: The National Wolfwatcher Coalition Charity Anthology.’ (2014) Thurston Howl Publications; ‘Fairytale Wonderland.’ in ‘Wolf Warriors: Winter Wolves.’ (2016) Thurston Howl Publications; ‘Sweet Child of Nine.’ In ‘Poems To My Younger Self.’ (2018) Compiled and edited by Sarah Michelle Lynch. (Release date 20th February 2018).

Thurston Howl is a writer, editor, and publisher. As a writer, he's had works published in Purrfect Tails, ROAR 8, HEAT 14 & 15, Knotted II, Civilized Beasts II, Typewriter Emergencies, Dogs of War II, Passing Through, and some college magazines. His recent experimental horror novella The Devil Has a Black Dog was recently accepted by Red Ferret Press, and he is also a reporter for Michigan LGBT newspaper, Between the Lines. As an editor, he does some volunteer work for Weasel Press, and he occasionally edits novels and anthologies for Thurston Howl Publications, of which he is the editor-in-chief. He is also the founder of the Furry Book Review program and will be the editor of upcoming nonfiction collection, From Paw to Print.